"Who is this irresistible creature who has an insatiable love for the dead?" ~Edward di Lorenzo

Southern girl with a morbid fascination of genealogy and old cemeteries

"Taphophilia" is described as an abnormal love for graves and cemeteries. Hearses are nice, too (especially 1960/70s Cadillacs). Classic funerary art can be breathtaking. Angels and mausoleums are my favorite. Every stone tells a story.

My mom said I got hooked when I became infatuated with my third great aunt's sparkly, pink casket when I was seven years old. It really set in when my high school English teacher assigned a tombstone rubbing project.

My great aunt, Agnes Bihn Terry, bit me with the genealogy bug. She traveled all over the place during the 1960s, looking for anything she could find in libraries, court houses, and cemeteries. Not only did she compile all of the names, dates, and places, but she wrote her own memories and old stories she had heard. What an amazing, beautiful gift she bestowed upon my family. I believe my job as a genealogist is to make our family's history an interesting read and not an endless list of "begats" (as my mother calls it) because names and dates and places can get terribly boring.

My favorite burial ground is Magnolia Cemetery in the city of my birth, Beaumont, Texas. Eventually my remains will be buried there with my maternal grandmother and her grandparents in the Bihn family plot.

Someday I hope to visit Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, Cimetiere du Pere Lachaise in Paris, Highgate Cemetery in London, Lycian Tombs in Turkey, Sedlec Ossuary (the Bone Church) in Prague, the Capuchin Catacombs in Palermo, Italy, and the hanging coffins of Sagada in The Philippines.

You can see which families I'm researching in my virtual cemeteries. I'm always interested in learning more about my favorite ancestor, Maj Daniel Leonidas McGary of Texas and his great grandfather, Col Hugh McGary Sr of Kentucky.

PLEASE don't hesitate to correct me, add additional information, or request the transfer of an ancestor or other loved one by clicking "Edit" and then "Suggest a correction or provide additional information." It may take me years (if ever) to find information left via the flowers link. Please let me know if you've added a photo so I can thank you and possibly obtain more information from the tombstone.

I'm not strict about FindaGrave's transference guidelines, so as long as you have a personal connection and can add more to the memorial than I can. My ancestors and other relatives are not up for grabs unless you're more closely related than me.

Also... Please be patient with me! I am a single mother of THREE daughters. I often have to take a break from FindaGrave to concentrate on LIFE (and not DEATH), but I will get back to you, I promise! I love graving more than anything, so if you're missing me, I'm missing you, too.

If you'd like to use any of my information or photos for your personal family research or other FindaGrave entries, I'm more than happy to help. Credit is optional, but it would be nice. Proper credit is definitely required for use of my photos and biographies in professional publications.

Some fellow gravers have asked me how I format the text in my memorials with hyperlinks and bold/italics text. It's really pretty simple. Google an "html" tutorial.

HAPPY GRAVING!!

(The dancing girl in the photo is the coolest lady I ever knew, my sweet, little Grandma Marthagene Rutledge 1919-2003). I miss her SO much.

Dorsey Plantation CemeteryGood Afternoon,I live in Anne Arundel County MD and would like to fulfill the request for a photo of the grave of Sarah Dorsey, but find no indication of where the Dorsey Plantation cemetery is located. Do you have any information that will point me in the right direction?Wayne

Ollie WalstonDo you know if this could be Addie Hazlewood?and could ceolia be Cedelde Walston born 1897 in washington texas? We also have a son buried in Oak Hill TExas cemetery by the name of Ernest Henry Walston showing Mom and dad as same. he was born 1894 died 1954 #36999157 find a grave #. Diana Malley at daynemalley@comcast.net. Thanks

42544602 Francis Alexander RamseyHi! happened to notice a couple of corrections to 42544602 Francis Alexander Ramsey. His father was 31171974 James Gettys McGready Ramsey. Eliza Jane Ramsey 41642624 is his aunt, not his sister. I understand the mistake- there are 3 Francis Alexander Ramsey in my direct line and a few others in the family.Thanks.

Lillie GrubbsSorry I am so tardy is sending a Thank You to you for adding Lillie's maiden name and linking her to family. But, first I Thank You for putting the memorial on Find A Grave. Happy Hunting. Bobbye Varner